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Formatting Text in Vim / Neovim

Table of Contents

Keymaps for Formatting

Formatting keymaps:

By default, these will only format based on line length
if formatexpr or formatprg aren't set.

  • gq{motion}: Format text selected with {motion}.
    • Uses formatexpr if it's set.
    • Uses formatprg if it's set.
    • Otherwise formatting is done internally (using textwidth).
  • gw{motion}: Like gq, but the cursor keeps its position.
    • Doesn't use formatexpr

Indenting keymaps:

Normal/Visual mode:

  • ={motion}: Filter {motion} lines through external program in equalprg.
    • Uses indentexpr if set (:h indent-expression).
    • When equalprg is empty (default), uses internal formatting function C-indending and lisp.
      Search for how to set indenting with :h [ft-]{language}-indent (i.e., :h html-indent).
  • The ft- (filetype) is optional for searching help.
  • For Vimscript: :h vim-indent.

Insert Mode

  • CTRL-T: Indents the current line once using the shiftwidth option.
  • CTRL-D: Unindents the current line once using the shiftwidth option.

Easy Formatting

Ex Command Effect
:ri/:right Right-Align Text
:ce/:center Center-Align Text
:le/:left Left-Align Text

C-style Indenting

These five options control C program indenting:
cindent: Enables Vim to perform C program indenting automatically.
 cinkeys: Specifies which keys trigger reindenting in insert mode.
cinoptions: Sets your preferred indent style.
 cinwords: Defines keywords that start an extra indent in the next line.
* cinscopedecls: Defines strings that are recognized as a C++ scope declaration.

The cinkeys option

:h cinkeys-format indentkeys-format The cinkeys option is a string that controls Vim's indenting in response to
typing certain characters or commands in certain contexts.

Default:

The default is 0{,0},0),0],:,0#,!^F,o,O,e which specifies that indenting
occurs as follows:

Value Meaning
0{ if you type { as the first character in a line
0} if you type } as the first character in a line
0) if you type ) as the first character in a line
0] if you type ] as the first character in a line
: if you type : after a label or case statement
0# if you type # as the first character in a line
!^F if you type CTRL-F (which is not inserted)
o if you type a <CR> anywhere or use the o command (not in insert mode!)
O if you use the O command (not in insert mode!)
e if you type the second 'e' for an else at the start of a line

:h i_CTRL-F

indent({lnum})  
getline({lnum} [, {end}])  
getline(1)  
getline(".")  
line({expr} [, {winid}])